Balloon breaker for thread winders

ABSTRACT

This balloon breaker for a high speed winder is mounted in the pocket of the active bobbin and comprises a U-shaped stamping with parallel legs disposed horizontally and formed with upper and lower alined eyes which are open to respectively receive the running thread and the upper end of the supply bobbin as the latter is transferred to active position for restarting the winding. Inwardly projecting lugs spaced around the interior of each eye engage the ballooning running thread to produce a jerky action of the ballooning thread as it travels around the eyes.

United States Patent 1 Mahoney et al.

[ 51 Feb. 27, 1973 1 BALLOON BREAKER FOR THREAD WINDERS [75] Inventors: Robert J. Mahoney; Donald W. Dean; Joseph Uzuanis, Jr., all of Rockford, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Barber-Colman Rockford, Ill.

[22] Filed: Nov. 18, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 199,860

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 31,117, April 23, 1970,

Company,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl ..242/35.5 R, 242/128, 57/106 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65h 49/02 [58] Field of Search.242l35.5 R, 35.6 R, 128, 157 R; 57/106 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,099,215 11/1937 Moore ..242/128 2,170,194 8/1939 Griggs, Jr. ..242/128 2,994,491 8/1961 Weber ..242/128 3,011,736 12/1961 Furst et al. ....242/128 3,065,592 11/1962 Kresslein ..57/106 3,094,835 6/1963 Nimtz et al ..57/106 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,146,746 5/1957 France ....242/l28 889,944 2/1962 Great Britain ..242/128 Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney-Wolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann, Ltd.

[5 7] ABSTRACT This balloon breaker for a high speed winder is mounted in the pocket of the active bobbin and comprises a U-shaped stamping with parallel legs disposed horizontally and formed with upper and lower alined eyes which are open to respectively receive the running thread and the upper end of the supply bobbin as the latter is transferred to active position for restarting the winding. Inwardly projecting lugs spaced around the interior of each eye engage the ballooning running thread to produce a jerky action of the ballooning thread as it travels around the eyes.

5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures BALLOON BREAKER FOR THREAD WINDERS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of our co-pending application Ser. No. 31,117 filed Apr. 23, 1970, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to so-called balloon breakers mounted between the supply package and guide eye in an over-end high speed winder and having internal peripheral surfaces engaging a length of the ballooning thread in a manner to reduce the variation in the thread tension during the unwinding of the package. Balloon breakers of the general type contemplated by the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,099,215 and 3,011,736.

The present invention represents an improvement over the balloon breakers heretofore used by providing more uniform thread tension throughout the unwinding of the supply package, particularly in the final part thereof, simpler, less expensive and more versatile construction for handling different kinds of thread, and lengths of packages while at the same time greatly reducing the danger of sloughing, especially in handling some synthetic yarns.

The foregoing objectives are achieved by making the breakage device of sheet material and U-shaped with flat and parallel legs vertically spaced and stationarily mounted along the path of the ballooning thread and formed with alined eyes having side openings positioned for broadwise entry of a new supply thread, at least one and preferably both of the eyes being formed with short inwardly extending projections which interrupt the ballooning portion of the running thread to cause a jerky angular motion thereof.

The invention also resides in the novel construction of the eyes which adapt the same for the desired balloon breaking action in opposite directions of revolution of the ballooning thread and also for use with bobbins of widely varying lengths.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the main elements of a conventional high speed winder equipped with a balloon breaker embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 and 4 are fragmentary vertical sectional views showing the shape of the ballooning threads at different times in the unwinding from a bobbin.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan section taken along the line 55 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 showing a modified form of the breaker device.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention is especially suited for use and is shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration incorporated in a Barber-Colman type high speed winder in which a supply bobbin 11 is disposed in the position shown in FIG. 1 and the thread thereof is unwound and drawn upwardly by a rotating traversing drum l2 and wound into the form of a cheese or cone 13. The bobbin is supported by a skewer 14 within an outwardly opening pocket 15 having side and top walls 16 and 17 and an inclined front 18 supporting a reserve bobbin 19 which is picked up and swung to the unwinding position by conventional mechanism whose operation is timed with that of end finding, tying and winding restarting mechanisms such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,347,479.

In traveling upwardly to the drum 12, the thread passes through a guide eye 21 and a snick plate 22 by which imperfections are stripped off from the thread. During the unwinding, the thread leaves the surface of the thread mass 23 at a point which progresses rapidly both around and along the remaining thread mass, the length between this shifting take-off point 24 and the guide eye 21 expanding or bulging outwardly and forming a so-called balloon which, if left unconfined, would assume a shape such as that indicated in dot-dash outline at 25 in FIG. 1. Such ballooning results, especially in certain sizes and compositions of threads, in such wide variations in the tension of the traveling thread as to be conducive to objectionable sloughing or bunching of the thread which becomes broken on reaching the yarn cleaner.

Instead of engaging and confining a substantial length of the ballooning thread as in the most successful balloon breakers of the prior art, the breaker of the present invention, indicated generally at 26, is disposed within the pocket and engages theballooning thread only at vertically spaced points indicated at 27 and 28 in FIGS. 3 and 4 and provides for intermittent stopping of the thread and a jerking action in the movement of the thread around the bobbin axis at both areas of engagement of the thread.

More specifically, the present balloon breaker is a generally U-shaped member comprising flat plates 31 and 31 vertically spaced and connected by an upright wall and apertured to provide eyes 32 and 33 open toward the front of the pocket as indicated at 34 and 35 and adapted to receive the running thread of the reserve bobbin as the latter is transferred into active position to restart the unwinding. I-Ierein, the U-shaped member including the eyes 32, 33 is a simple sheet metal stamping, the clamping, in the form shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, being effected through an L-shaped bracket 37 and by a screw 38 extending through a vertical slot 39 in the closed end of the stamping and threading into a selected one of vertically spaced and tapped holes 41 in the depending leg of the bracket. The short leg of the latter is secured by bolts 42 to the under side of the top pocket wall 17. Preferably, the selected vertical position of the stamping is such that, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper eye 32 is disposed in a horizontal plane spaced about 1.5 inches above the upper end of the nose 43 of the bobbin in the unwinding position. The front opening 35 in the lower eye is wide enough to allow the nose to enter as a bobbin is swung from the reserve to the active position. In the latter position, the bobbin nose is approximately centered in the eye which has a substantially circular internal edge 44 somewhat smaller than the diameter to which thread, if left unconfined, would expand or balloon in the plane of this eye.

The jerky motion of the thread in following around the eye is achieved by inwardly projecting lugs 45 of relatively short radial length angularly spaced around the eye and acting intermittently to intercept and momentarily interrupt the annular advance of the thread. Herein, each lug is formed with generally parallel edges and rounded corners 46 which permit the thread to pass by easily after being caught and stopped momentarily as it passes each lug in traveling around the eye during the unwinding. The eye 33 is about 1.75 inches in diameter and its edge 44 includes a little more than a half revolution, being interrupted at the front by the opening 35 into which the new and ballooning supply thread is guided by inwardly converging edges 48 as a new bobbin is being transferred from the reserve position into the running position. The opposed edges 47 of the opening are spaced apart far enough to permit sidewise entry of the bobbin nose 43 during the bobbin transfer. By locating the edges 47 parallel as shown, it has been found that the ballooning thread will pass across the opening 35 the same as it passes the notches between the adjacent lugs 45.

The upper eye 32 is similarly formed in the upper leg 31 of the stamping and defined by similar annular series of inwardly projecting lugs 49 and intervening notches 51 which coact as above described in confining the ballooning thread and causing the same to travel around the eye with a jerky motion. In view of its position adjacent the guide eye 21 of the winder and at a smaller diameter of the running and ballooning thread when unconfined, the upper eye is made somewhat smaller than the lower eye. Also, the opening 34 for the sidewise entry of the traveling thread is made narrower than the opening 35 and is defined by the parallel edges 52 of lugs 54 whose tips 53 preferably extend into the eye opening to a radius somewhat shorter than the ends of the lugs 49. The curved inner edges 55 of these lugs force the ballooning thread inwardly and insure that it will pass by the inner end of the opening 34 without danger of being caught therein. Edges 57 similar to the edges 48 converge to the opening 34 and guide the entry of the ballooning thread into the upper eye 32.

By virtue of the smaller size of the upper eye 32 and the provision through the inwardly extending inclines 55 on opposite sides of the inner end of the inlet 34, the ballooning thread will be led properly across the opening thus avoiding any danger of the thread being caught in the opening is avoided. Such control of the ballooning thread by the upper eye also insures that the thread revolving around the lower eye 33 will always pass the inner end of the opening 35 in spite of the substantial width of the latter in order to admit the sidewise entry of the bobbin noses as described above.

' In a high speed winder equipped with a balloon breaker as above described, high speed motion picture studies indicate that a length 56 of the running thread greater than the vertical spacing of the eyes 32 and 33 may accumulate between the eyes and become looped outwardly somewhat as indicated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Such action appears to contribute to the balloon breaking action of the present device in reducing variations in tension in the running thread so as to better avoid sloughing or breaking even with threads which are particularly susceptible to sloughing. Extensive studies show that with the present device, the tension in the running thread, at the time when nearly all of the thread has been unwound as illustrated in FIG. 4 is substantially less than with the breakers now being offered for commercial use.

By modifying the construction and mounting above described as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the improved bal Ioon breaker is adjustable more accurately for most efficient action in handling bobbins of different lengths as shown in full and in phantom in FIG. 7. In this modification, the wall 29 joining the plates 31 and 31 is located along the sides instead of the inner ends of the plates as in the form first described and is thus adapted for clamping against the side wall 16 of the bobbin pocket 15, the openings 34 and 35 leading to the upper and lower eyes 32 and 33 being located in positions substantially the same as in the form first described but adjustable along the axis of the bobbin.

To provide for such adjustment the forwardly extended end 29 of the wall 29 is slotted as indicated at 60 to receive a screw 61 threaded into the wall to provide a horizontal pivot allowing the eyes 32, 33 in the opposite end portion of the breaker to be raised and lowered so as to locate the lower eye the desired distance below the end of the nose 43 of the bobbin being handled in the winder. The adjusted position of the lower eye 35 is selected and maintained by inserting a locating pin 62 in one of several holes 63 extending through and vertically spaced across the inner free end of the wall 29. Thus, for longer bobbins, the breaker would be positioned as shown in full in FIG. 7 the desired short distance below the upper end of the bobbin nose 43. For shorter bobbins, the breaker is lowered by inserting the pin in a lower hole 63 thus spacing the end of the bobbin nose the same desired distance above the eye 35 as shown in phantom in FIG. 7.

It will be apparent that the eyes 32 and 33 present the same internal configuration and act on the revolving ballooning thread in the same way irrespective of the direction of travel of the thread around the eyes. Thus, without changing its position, the present breaker is adapted for use with bobbins whose threads are wound in different directions and therefore travel in corresponding directions during unwinding of the thread thereof.

All of these functions and advantages are incorporated in a U-shaped member which may be simply constructed as a sheet metal stamping and at minimum cost. The desired thread-confining and balloon breaking action is thus achieved with a device which is of minimum vertical height and can be mounted within the pocket of a Barber-Colman winder while at the same time accommodating bobbins of various conventional lengths and threads wound in opposite directions.

We claim as our invention:

1. For use in breaking up and limiting the ballooning of a thread being drawn endwise off from a bobbin in a high speed winder, the combination of, substantially parallel legs respectively defining eyes axially spaced apart along the path of the traveling thread and having side openings positioned for the entry of the thread of a bobbin as the latter is being transferred along a predetermined path into an unwinding position, said legs being mounted stationarily and remaining in fixed positions during the transfer of a full bobbin along said path and during the unwinding of the thread from such bobbin, and surfaces around the internal periphery of said eyes confining and limiting the diameter of the ballooning of the thread as the latter is unwound from the bobbin and travels through the eyes, the side opening in the first eye engaged by the traveling thread being positioned and wide enough to permit the nose of a full bobbin to pass therethrough in the movement of the bobbin along said path to said unwinding position, whereby to leave the bobbin nose disposed between said two eyes and the end of the mass of thread on the full bobbin adjacent said first eye.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which said opening in the eye last to be engaged by the ballooning thread is narrower than the opening in said first eye and the adjacent one of said surfaces is shaped to deflect the thread and cause the same to pass over the opening.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2 in which said adjacent surface is inclined radially and inwardly so as to deflect the ballooning thread inwardly before it passes the inner end of the opening in said second eye.

4. The combination as defined in claim 2 in which the diameter of the said last eye is substantially less than that of said first eye.

5. The combination as defined in claim '1 in which the surfaces of the eye last to be engaged by the ballooning thread and on opposite sides of the opening thereof are shaped to deflect the ballooning thread and cause the same to pass over the inner end of the open- 

1. For use in breaking up and limiting the ballooning of a thread being drawn endwise off from a bobbin in a high speed winder, the combination of, substantially parallel legs respectively defining eyes axially spaced apart along the path of the traveling thread and having side openings positioned for the entry of the thread of a bobbin as the latter is being transferred along a predetermined path into an unwinding position, said legs being mounted stationarily and remaining in fixed positions during the transfer of a full bobbin along said path and during the unwinding of the thread from such bobbin, and surfaces around the internal periphery of said eyes confining and limiting the diameter of the ballooning of the thread as the latter is unwound from the bobbin and travels through the eyes, the side opening in the first eye engaged by the traveling thread being positioned and wide enough to permit the nose of a full bobbin to pass therethrough in the movement of the bobbin along said path to said unwinding position, whereby to leave the bobbin nose disposed between said two eyes and the end of the mass of thread on the full bobbin adjacent said first eye.
 2. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which said opening in the eye last to be engaged by the ballooning thread is narrower than the opening in said first eye and the adjacent one of said surfaces is shaped to deflect the thread and cause the same to pass over the opening.
 3. The combination as defined in claim 2 in which said adjacent surface is inclined radially and inwardly so as to deflect the ballooning thread inwardly before it passes the inner end of the opening in said second eye.
 4. The combination as defined in claim 2 in which the diameter of the said last eye is substantially less than that of said first eye.
 5. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which the surfaces of the eye last to be engaged by the ballooning thread and on opposite sides of the opening thereof are shaped to deflect the ballooning thread and cause the same to pass over the inner end of the opening irrespective of the direCtion of rotation of the ballooning thread. 